The Missing
by Aureate
Summary: When an up-and-coming young Trainer disappears before a big Gym battle, the International Police send an agent to investigate. Faced with hostile locals, mysterious occurrences, and a suspicious Gym Leader, can Looker uncover the truth?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, save this bag of candy corn.

The rating of this story may change as I get farther into it. I guess we'll see. Anyway, reviews would be greatly appreciated!

* * *

People always thought that working for the International Police would be a terribly exciting job. And most of the time, Looker would have gladly agreed. Most of the time. Just not right now.

Currently, the detective was sitting in his office, leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk. Under normal circumstances, this would have been impossible, as any contact with the desk could cause the many piles of paperwork to collapse in a massive landslide. But after three weeks without any interesting cases, suddenly even paperwork had looked appealing.

That extraordinary change of heart had happened two weeks ago. During the intervening time, he'd also organized his files, caught up on his e-mail, and vaguely considered dusting. Now he'd finally run out of ideas. Well, _constructive _ideas, anyway. Looker idly fished another Poffin from the pocket of his trenchcoat and expertly flipped it towards the Croagunk crouched on the corner of the desk. The frog-like Pokemon immediately jumped, powerful hind legs propelling him directly up in the air, and caught the Poffin neatly in his mouth. "Well done, Loki," Looker complimented his partner. "That would be, what…thirty-two in a row now?"

"Gunk!" Loki shook his head and held up three fingers.

"Ah, thirty-_three._ My apologies."

"Gunk." The Croagunk nodded in acceptance, then, being quite full from all the treats, settled down in a comfortable position and closed his eyes for a mid-afternoon nap. Looker considered trying to catch the Poffins in his own mouth, but quickly dismissed it as a terrible idea. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and attempted to catch a little sleep of his own. His rest lasted only a few seconds, however, before the shrill ringing of the phone cut in, nearly startling him out of his chair.

Years of training allowed him to recover quickly, and he just managed to avoid falling. Casting a glare towards the snickering Loki, Looker grabbed the phone and snapped, "Looker speaking,"

"Hello, Looker," The voice was deep, gruff, and only slightly frightening. Looker recognized it immediately.

"Chief! Nice to hear from you." Loki immediately stopped laughing at his partner's misfortune and moved closer, leaning in until his face was nearly touching Looker's in an attempt to listen in. Looker motioned him back in irritation and pointed towards the receiver. Loki looked at it blankly for a second, then realized what Looker meant and pressed the speakerphone button. Looker set the receiver down quietly and held a finger to his lips with a pointed look at the Croagunk.

"We have a new case for you. You'll be receiving the file shortly." Looker glanced at his computer, which was indeed receiving a file. He'd always thought that was a silly way to do things; he would only have to print it out later, and he had to buy his own ink. All it did was minimize his face-to-face time with his employers. Sometimes their desire for mystery irked him.

"After all this time, Chief? I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me." Loki puffed up his cheek sacs and hissed loudly at the phone in emphasis. Looker rolled his eyes. So much for being quiet.

There was a sigh on the other end. "Are you letting that creature of yours listen in on this, Looker?"

"Now, now, Chief," Looker drawled, grinning. "Without Loki, we never would have caught those Pokemon thieves in Hearthome, would we?" Loki answered the question for him with a loud croak. There was no reply, and Looker could see the Chief sitting at his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. The man had never much liked Pokemon to begin with, and Loki hadn't helped matters along. Privately, Looker thought that the Chief had deserved that Mud Slap, but apparently you couldn't come between that one and his suits.

The computer let out a cheery ding to announce that the file had finished loading, and Looker opened it and began to scroll through the contents. "We'll be sending you overseas this time, to Kanto," the Chief explained in the background. "A prominent young Trainer has disappeared from Cinnabar Island, and we'd like you to find her, if possible."

"A disappearance?" Looker asked, puzzled. "Couldn't the local police handle that? Not that I'm not perfectly willing to accept the job," he added as Loki angrily jabbed him in the shoulder.

"Normally, yes. However, they still have no leads, and the girl's family has requested that we assist in the matter." The Chief paused for a second, causing Looker and his partner to look at the phone apprehensively, both expecting to hear about some horrible danger awaiting them on the island. "You'll also be going undercover on this one. All the documents you need for your fake identity are in the file."

Looker let out a sigh of relief. That wasn't so bad; he was one of the IP's best undercover agents. Still, it seemed an odd precaution to take for what sounded to be a relatively straightforward kidnapping. "Is there any particular reason for this, sir?" he ventured.

"We have reason to believe that the residents of Cinnabar will not cooperate with any outside agents. Now, Looker, your ship leaves at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Good luck." And before Looker could ask any of the questions swirling in his mind, the Chief hung up.

Looker sighed and raised an eyebrow at Loki. "That was, once again, unnecessarily mysterious of him. Do we have to worry about getting attacked by random townspeople now?" Loki shrugged, and Looker noticed with a sinking feeling in his stomach that the Croagunk's body was shaking slightly. He had learned to trust his partner's instincts, and shaking like that was never a good sign. Perhaps there was more to this case than met the eye.

Still, there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. The detective sighed and stood up, leaning down slightly to allow Loki to jump onto his shoulder. "I suppose we'll find out when we get there. Let's just go get packed."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokemon or Looker. I own Mr. Martin, but he's a poor second. He wouldn't even give me an Old Rod.

First off, a big thanks to my reviewers for your kind words of encouragement. And yes, Croagunk _is_ a little prick. A funny prick, though.

* * *

The next morning, they immediately started off on the wrong foot. While they were boarding the boat, Loki was nearly stepped on by a heavyset tourist, who was too busy talking on a cell phone to notice. The startled Pokemon retaliated by punching the man in the knees, then jumping on top of him when he fell. In the end, Looker had to pick him up and haul him off to avoid any further violence. Even so, the man was threatening to sue. So when he went out to the deck, Looker left Loki in the cabin and locked the door. He just hoped he'd managed to confiscate all of his lockpicks.

The rest of the trip would last less than an hour, according to the captain. The weather outside was perfectly sunny, though sadly it was a bit too hot to wear a trenchcoat. It was the perfect opportunity to review the case file before they docked. Looker found a chair on the edge of the deck, away from the other passengers and sat down in the shade of an umbrella, opening the case file to the first page.

The missing Trainer was a fifteen year old girl by the name of Maria Ryans. A Kanto native, she had begun training at the usual age of ten. Unlike most children, however, Maria stuck with it, traveling throughout the country to collect Gym Badges. The only two Gyms she hadn't yet challenged were in Cinnabar and Viridian. She was considered to be quite the rising star of the battling world, and the Pokemon League itself had been keeping a close eye on her. Of course, the I.P. had access to all their data.

The picture on the first page showed a pretty young girl, with shoulder length blonde hair and light green eyes, stroking the horn of a powerful-looking Rhydon. Both Pokemon and human looked happy, almost carefree. Now she was gone, and chances were good that she was already dead. Looker sighed. He hated cases involving children.

He flipped forward a few pages and noted that the Rhydon had only just evolved; the picture must be very recent. Judging from the League's profile, the rest of the girl's party was equally impressive. She even had a Gyarados; they were notoriously hard to control, but according to the League's notes, she had no trouble with it. Looker remembered that the Cinnabar Gym Leader, Blaine, was a user of Fire types. With those two Pokemon, the girl wouldn't have had a problem collecting her seventh Badge.

A possible motive? But Gym Leaders didn't suffer any from losing a few battles here and there. Still, Looker made a note of it in the margin of the paper and resolved to talk to Blaine at the first opportunity.

Aside from the slight possibility of the Gym Leader, the report didn't give much in the way of suspects. As far as anyone knew, Maria had no enemies. She didn't know anyone on Cinnabar; she had no traveling companions. Sometimes a Trainer's Pokemon went rogue, but Maria's Pokemon clearly adored her.

Looker closed the folder and looked out onto the ocean. He'd find out much more simply by getting to Cinnabar and interviewing the people there. The cover identity he'd been given was a familiar one, that of a reporter from a prominent Sinnoh newspaper. The editor of the paper was a retired I.P. agent, which always came in handy when people decided to check up on credentials. It had been quite the stroke of luck for the Agency. Being a reporter was a good way to get information, and it was actually enjoyable in its own way. Retirement was still a distant prospect, but Looker thought that reporting would be a nice way to spend it. He knew well that he couldn't last very long without something to keep him occupied, and he had no interest in growing Berries in his backyard or whatever else most retired agents did. If he had to leave the force, he wanted to continue digging into things, uncovering the truth…_snooping_, he summarized with a small smile. _Always the snooper, me._

Just then, the captain's voice came over the ship's PA system, announcing that they would dock at Cinnabar in five minutes. Looker gathered his papers and headed back to his cabin to check up on Loki. When he got there, he opened the door to find the Croagunk sitting on the bed, wearing the trenchcoat he had dug out of Looker's bag.

"Gunk croaaaa gunk! Gunk gunk gunk!" He pranced about the room, waving his arms and flapping the sleeves wildly. Looker rolled his eyes and waited. Eventually, deprived of a reaction, Loki settled down and looked up at Looker inquisitively.

"If you're quite done mocking me, it's time to get off the boat now."

"Croagunk!" Loki jumped up excitedly and darted past Looker into the hallway. The detective sighed heavily, grabbed his bag, and followed. Everything he'd said to the chief yesterday was true, but Loki could be _really_ irritating at times.

As the two disembarked from the ship, Looker having taken back his coat, the first thing that met their eyes was a huge building standing near the dock. It was taller than any of the other buildings nearby, almost a mansion in its size, but it was quite obviously abandoned. The paint had peeled off in strips, all the windows had been broken, and a large section of the roof had caved in, with only a few boards nailed over it. _What an eyesore to greet visitors with. I can't imagine why that would still be standing,_ Looker thought critically.

Loki was staring at the mansion too, and the detective noticed with surprise that he was hissing quietly. Other people were beginning to notice too, and quite a few of the locals were openly staring. Looker had been expecting this. Having Loki around did make undercover work harder, but Looker thought the benefits outweighed the risks. Anyway, he didn't want to come home to find his bed covered in poisonous goo again. A young child, almost of age to become a trainer, walked up to them and pointed. "What kind of Pokemon is _that?_"

"He's a Croagunk," Looker replied loudly, hoping to get rid of the crowd by satisfying their curiousity. "They're native to Sinnoh." Loki, as always, preened under the curious stares of those around.

"_I've_ never heard of them," the boy said accusingly. Looker looked down at him, one eyebrow raised. Why would he lie about something like that?

But the boy was too busy trying to poke Loki to notice. Well, maybe he could be useful. Looker sneaked a quick glance at the file in his hand. "I don't suppose you can tell me where Mr. Martin lives?"

"Him? Why would you want to talk to – " the boy broke off upon noticing Looker's testy expression. "He lives on the end of that road," he said, turning and pointing. "Right by the ocean. You'll see it. It's all old and stuff," he added, with a child's scorn for anything older than themselves.

"Ah. Thank you."

By that time, most of the locals had lost interest, and Looker was able to escape. First he went and checked into the hotel, but spent only a few minutes there before leaving again, heading towards Mr. Martin's home. In keeping with their cover, Looker carried a small pad on which to make notes and Loki got to hold the camera. The Croagunk hurried after Looker, trying to keep up with the man's long strides. "Gunk?" he asked, pointing down the street with an inquisitive look.

"Oh, you didn't read the report, did you?" Looker asked, being careful to keep his voice down. "This is the last person to see Ms. Ryans alive. Mr. Ronald Martin. A fisherman, I believe..." They reached the end of the street, and Looker studied the house doubtfully. "Though clearly not a successful one." It did look very run down; in fact, it looked as though it might collapse any second. He walked up the stairs to the front porch, holding the rather wobbly handrail carefully, and knocked on the door.

It opened quickly, and a short, white-haired man glared first at Loki with his camera, then up at Looker. He had a fiercely belligerent air about him, like a man who'd been in a lot of fistfights in his youth. "Who the hell are you?" he snapped.

"My name is Samuel Johnson, sir," Looker replied smoothly. "I'm a reporter for the _Sinnoh Sentinel, _and this is my assistant. I'd like to speak to you about the disappearance of Maria Ryans."

The old man's glare intensified. "Why do you reporters keep coming after me? Go talk to that Gym Leader fella. I bet he can tell you more than I."

With that, he slammed the door in their faces, or tried to. But Looker wasn't about to let him go after a comment like that; he quickly moved forward and held it open. "What exactly do you mean by that, Mr. Martin?"

Mr. Martin again struggled to push the door shut and, failing, answered the question grudgingly. "I _mean,_ it's obvious who done it." He leaned close to Looker conspiratorially. "No-one else will admit it. They all think that Gym is the best thing that ever happened to this town. But _I_ know. He killed her, he did." He nodded as he talked, absolutely certain of everything he said.

Looker knew how to handle this kind of witness. He greeted the information with an incredulous raise of the eyebrows, but made a show of copying it down anyway. "And what makes you think that?" Skeptical, yes, but willing to listen to reason.

Martin responded perfectly. "Don't be stupid, boy!" He exclaimed, forgetting his grudge against the reporter and opening the door wide. "Everyone knows that she was out on the east shore training that big Gyarados of hers the night before she disappeared. Blaine wouldn'tve lasted five seconds against that thing." The man grinned, clearly savoring the idea of Blaine's defeat. "And I heard that the Pokemon League was thinking about making him retire soon. A big defeat like that and you can bet that he'd be gone for good. But now it'll be ages before another Trainer gets all the way out here. Most of them don't, you know; that girl had guts." He looked down at the ground, brow furrowed. "Real guts. Poor little kid."

"Yes, but remember, we don't know that she's dead yet," Looker reminded Martin comfortingly. "So, you actually saw her training that night? Were you fishing in the area, perhaps?"

The old man made a derisive sound. "Course not! I fish off towards the south. The east ain't good fishing grounds. But I can see the beach from here. Look." He came out onto the porch and pointed around the right side of the house. Looker followed, and saw that, due to the house's position on the edge of town, the dunes of the beach were indeed clearly visible. Loki snapped a quick photo of the view, and Martin continued to talk, gesturing out into the distance. "I saw her and her Pokemon out there when I came home that night. That beast of hers was shooting Hyper Beams all over the place; it was real bright. Looked like a mighty fine beast, it did."

"Ah. And approximately what time was this?"

The man glanced at Looker suspiciously. "What does that matter?"

Looker, realizing that his wording made him sound just like a policeman, defensively held up his notepad. "It's all part of the story, Mr. Martin. We at the _Sentinel_ always bring our readers all the facts." The man seemed to accept this explanation, and relaxed.

"About nine-thirty, I guess." Looker nodded and flipped his notebook shut.

"Well, you've been very helpful. I'll be in touch if I have any more questions, but I think that's about it. Thank you for your time." Looker turned to leave, and was stopped by the old man's hand on his sleeve.

Martin looked at him, now more curious than angry. "Where're you headed now?"

"I'm going to the Gym, Mr. Martin," Looker answered honestly. "I'd like to speak to Blaine, if I can."

"Ah." The old man looked down at Looker with an appraising eye. "Well, you be careful there. Don't tell them what I told you. They've killed once to protect that Gym of theirs, and they'll do it again."

The detective nodded politely. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." He wasn't really worried about being attacked just yet. Still...why couldn't it have been a Bug-training Gym?

* * *

Silly Looker. Even if it was a Bug-gym, they'd probably just sic a swarm of Scythers on him.

Just one quick note: Samuel Johnson is a pseudonym. I didn't mean it to be Looker's actual name. It would be fun to call him Sammy, though. And I figure that Sinnoh is probably far enough away from Kanto that people there wouldn't neccesarily recognize Sinnoh Pokemon, unless they were Trainers or something.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still do not own the Pokemon franchise.

JeanDaBean - Yeah, Loki's pretty much useless so far. But he'll be more helpful later, I'm sure.

* * *

_Interview #1 - Ronald Martin_

_The witness clearly has some sort of grudge against Blaine, the Gym Leader. I believe him when he says he saw Ms. Ryans that night...but the rest? It seems implausible. Still, if that's the way this case is tending, it would explain why I had to come here undercover, as well as the ineffectiveness of the local police. Gym Leaders are leaders in their communities as well; the islanders would not take kindly to those looking to incriminate __Blaine__. _

_But murder is a big secret, especially the murder of a child. If Blaine, or one of his underlings, was known for certain to have committed this crime, someone would have turned him in. At least, I like to think so._

They reached the Gym, and Looker looked up from his writing to study the building. It was very imposing: a large metal monument with two fierce-looking stone Charizards guarding the door. Of course, that was the style among Gym Leaders, especially in Kanto, where things were a little old-fashioned. Loki sidled up close to Looker, clearly somewhat apprehensive. "Don't worry about it," Looker advised him. "We'll be alright. You _can_bring down rampaging Charizards, can't you?"

"Croaaaa…" Loki glanced doubtfully at the statues. Looker laughed.

"I said, don't worry about it. Come on."

Entering the Gym, Looker was immediately confronted by an eager bespectacled man. "Hey there!" he said. "So you're making a Gym challenge, huh? Blaine is a user of Fire-types, so you should douse him with Water-type moves! I...don't think Poison or Fighting will have much effect," he added with a look askance at Loki.

"I'm not here for a battle," Looker explained, flashing his new press pass. "I'm here on business. I'd like to speak with Blaine, if possible."

"Oh." The man deflated and began to talk in a more normal voice. "Well, I don't think he's in right now. You can talk to Heather, though; she's the senior Gym Trainer."

Looker shook his head. "I'd much rather speak to Blaine personally. Do you know when he'll be back?"

The Gym guy shrugged. "I dunno. I think he went out training again. It could be weeks. But Heather's his right hand; she runs this place when he's away. She can tell you whatever you need to know."

Looker considered this. Well, it could be beneficial to get some interviews from other members of the Gym. "Alright, I'll talk to her."

"Great. Just go through there. Her room is the one right before Blaine's," the man said, gesturing to a door behind him. Looker nodded his thanks and went into the inner rooms. The Gym Trainers weren't there, apparently having taken advantage of their Leader's absence to skip out. All the doors were open, too, which was lucky; Looker was not in the mood for trivia games at the moment. Finally he entered a room with one chair off to the side, where a young woman was sitting and reading a book. Around the chair was curled a huge dozing Charizard. It lifted its head as they came in and fixed Loki with a hungry orange gaze.

Its trainer looked up as well. "Oh, a challenger?" she asked, brow furrowed slightly. "Master Blaine's not here right now. Didn't they tell you when you came in?"

"Actually, yes. I'm a reporter for the _Sinnoh Sentinel_. Are you Heather?" Looker asked, trying to focus on her while a terrified Loki attempted to burrow into his coat.

"Yes..." she replied, looking puzzled."What do you want to talk to me for?"

"Well, I came to interview the Gym Leader, but as he's not here, I thought I'd talk to you instead." Heather nodded her assent, and Looker decided to just get right to the point. "What do you know about Maria Ryans?" He was quite proud of the fact that he could still carry off a reporter's serious tone with his supposed photographer clinging to his leg.

At the mention of the missing girl's name, Heather's eyes immediately narrowed. "You've been talking to that horrible old fisherman, haven't you?" Without waiting for a response, she continued, her voice tinged with a hint of venom. "You shouldn't believe a word he says. He's just jealous of Master Blaine."

Looker decided that there was no point denying Mr. Martin's involvement now. "Jealous? How so? Is he a former challenger, perhaps?"

"Well...no," She admitted, looking slightly discomfited. She recovered quickly, however, and added righteously, "But who wouldn't be jealous? Master Blaine has done _so_much for Cinnabar. Everyone's so grateful to him. Plus, he's one of the top Gym Leaders in all of Kanto! He's a great man." She didn't even appear to be talking to Looker anymore; her gaze was fixed slightly above his head, and her lips curved in a faint smile.

Looker pretended not to notice and continued loudly, "So does this great man have an alibi for the night of Ms. Ryan's disappearance?"

Her eyes snapped back to his face, and the Charizard at her side stood up, looming threateningly over the human who had upset its Trainer. "Of course! He was training, and all the Gym Trainers here were with him. You can ask any of them." She stood and glared at him, arms crossed. "And now I think you'd better leave."

The Charizard rumbled in apparent agreement, and Looker decided that it would be best to follow her advice. "Very well," he said politely, ignoring Loki's frenzied dash for the exit. "I shall be back tomorrow to speak to your colleagues." Before she could respond, he turned and walked nonchalantly towards the door. Once out in the hallway, however, he allowed himself to move somewhat faster. Try as he might, he couldn't quite blame his partner for running away from this one.

---

After their interesting time at the Gym, Looker decided to have pity on Loki and take a walk around the town. It would be good for him to familiarize himself with the surrounding area, anyway. The townspeople, who by now were all aware of Loki's presence and origins, were now keeping their distance and watching with suspicion as the two passed. Looker attempted to get an assessment of Blaine's character from one of them, and was quickly rebuffed. Blaine was _their_ Gym Leader; they weren't going to talk about him to any upstart foreign reporter.

"And certainly not to any upstart foreign _detective_," Looker muttered to Loki as they walked away. "I suppose we now know the reason for this cover."

"Croaaa," Loki replied in disheartened agreement. Then, noticing where they had ended up, his eyes narrowed and he pointed.

The abandoned mansion looked even bigger up close. From here, Looker could see the tell-tale signs of fire damage. Quietly, Loki began hissing again. "It's only an abandoned building," Looker scolded lightly. "There's no need for that."

"Oh, it bothers a lot of the Pokemon around here. Most of the locals won't even go in. I think it's because a lot of Ghost-types live there; you know how it is." The man who said this walked up and knelt down to look at Loki, who drew back in surprise. "A Croagunk, hm? Only found in the Great Marsh of Sinnoh." Blue eyes sparkled with amusement behind his wire-framed glasses. "You lot were quite troublesome last time I was there."

"That's the entire species for you," Looker informed him wryly. "Personally, I wouldn't spend a second in that swamp."

The man stood up hurriedly and blinked at him, as if he hadn't realized there was another human there. "Oh...hello. We were there on a dig, you see; we thought there might be some interesting fossils. I'm Dr. Eli Sterling; I'm with the Pokemon Lab here."

He offered his hand, and Looker shook it. "Samuel Johnson. So you're not from around here, Dr. Sterling?" It was only a guess, but the doctor didn't seem much like an island person.

"No, I'm actually from Pewter originally. It's on the mainland, have you heard of it?"

"Oh, yes. The town with the Rock-type Gym," Looker replied with a nod.

"Yeah!" Dr. Sterling was clearly pleased to have his hometown recognized. "That's Brock's Gym. He's a good Leader."

"Oh, yeah? Better than Blaine, even?"

"Blaine?" The doctor asked vaguely. "Well, he's alright, too, I suppose. Why?"

_An unbiased witness! Arceus be praised!_ "I'm from the _Sinnoh Sentinel_. We're doing character profiles on foreign Gym Leaders, and we picked up on Blaine this month," Looker lied smoothly. "It would be great to have a perspective from a non-local standpoint."

"Oh, I know what you mean," Dr. Sterling replied with a grin. "Everyone around here adores him. That's normal in Gym towns, though. I remember when Brock used to hold exhibition matches…" He trailed off for a moment before returning to the present. "Hey, why don't we head back to my lab, and I can answer some of your questions?"

Looker readily agreed to this proposal, and the doctor led the way back to the Pokemon Lab. It was clearly much newer than most of the other buildings in the area, gleaming white in the sunlight. They walked through the doors, and immediately a small Pokemon scuttled up to Dr. Sterling, clicking and hissing happily. Its entire body was concealed by a smooth brown shell, and if it had been in the water it could easily have passed for a river rock. The doctor picked it up and held it to his chest, stroking its shell as it hummed in pleasure. "This is Alpha," he explained to Looker. "He's an ancient Pokemon known as a Kabuto. We created him from the DNA found in a fossil. He's the first of his kind to exist in over 300 million years!"

"Really? That's amazing! I'd heard that things like that were being researched, but I didn't know it had already been done." Looker was impressed. From what he could see, the Kabuto seemed healthy and happy. It was certainly a strange looking little creature; he could see tiny crab-like legs now, and two glowing red eyes peeking out from under the shell.

"Our lab is the first to successfully clone a fossil," Doctor Sterling said proudly. "I imagine we'll start doing it on a larger scale soon, once the word gets out. For now, I've been raising Alpha myself. We're trying to get him to evolve, to see if prehistoric Pokemon did it in the same manner as those today." He detached the Kabuto from his shirt and set him down on the floor. Alpha immediately went up to Loki and began to hiss excitedly. Loki seemed surprised, but replied in his usual tones, and the two began to converse in their own language. The humans watched in fascination. "Incredible!" the doctor said in hushed tones. "He seems to have absolutely no trouble communicating with modern Pokemon species! We thought for certain he wouldn't be able to! I have to document this!"

"Right, of course. But first, shall we?" Looker asked, waving the notepad about.

"Oh. Yes. Blaine." The scientist returned to reality for a moment. "Well, he's certainly well-loved around here. He does a lot for the community, certainly. Last year, for instance, he gave the police department five pups from his Arcanine's litter so that they could start up a K-9 squad."

_Oh, gifts to public officials. _That's_ just wonderful._ "And you, Doctor?"

"Oh…well. He's not very supportive of _us,"_ he said, gesturing a hand around the laboratory. "But none of the locals are. In fact, most of them are downright against us. If it weren't for all the fossils we find on the seafloor around Cinnabar, we probably would never have built a lab here."

"That's interesting," Looker muttered offhandedly, scribbling in his pad. Dr. Sterling looked at him in sudden concern.

"Oh, I don't mean to say anything bad about him! I wouldn't want to slant your article at all."

Looker chuckled. "I've been talking to locals all day, Doctor. Trust me; their opinions are much more biased than yours."

"Well…that's probably true." Dr. Sterling stood and offered Looker his hand. "I hope I've been helpful to you."

"Very helpful," Looker replied, shaking it. "I'll be seeing you around, I think. I'm staying here a while longer, and the locals haven't been very friendly."

Dr. Sterling laughed. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean. Anytime you need a place to hide out, feel free to drop by."

Looker hung around the lab a little longer, as Dr. Sterling wanted a chance to film the ongoing interaction between the two Pokemon. Of course, once a camera was broken out, Loki began to act the ham, and somehow he ended up teaching his new Kabuto friend a scuttling sort of crab-dance. By the time they left, it had gotten dark, and Looker decided to head back to the hotel.

The room service was not very good, and Loki was the only one who ate with any gusto. Looker sent off a preliminary report to I.P. headquarters, but that was the end of his good-employee act; he spent the next few hours reading about Pokemon cloning on the Internet.

Later that night, when the moon rose, Looker and Loki discovered that they could see the abandoned mansion from their window. Looker closed the shutters before they went to bed, but the building still seemed to cast an eerie shadow. It was a while before either of them fell asleep.

* * *

I swear Loki will eventually be more than just a conversation starter/occasional comic relief someday. Now, next chapter is when the _real _fun begins, so stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4

THIS UPDATE IS ON TIME. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

* * *

Dawn had just flooded the sky with crimson light when Loki shook Looker awake the next morning. The frog proved resistant to all attempts to shove him away, and Looker finally surrendered and sat up, snarling, "Okay, what the hell do you – "He broke off as the wide-eyed look on Loki's face registered. "What? What is it?"

Loki leapt over to the window and opened the blinds. "Gungunk! Croa!" Looker leapt up and dashed over to look. Outside, red-and-blue lights flashed madly as four police cars raced eastwards down the street. Looker's heart dropped.

"Oh, _shit."_

Five minutes later, Looker was dressed and the two were hurrying down the street, glad for the growing light. There wasn't anyone out and about yet. It was a lucky break; suspicious behavior after a crime was not the best way to keep your cover intact.

Finally, they arrived at the beach, where the squad cars were parked in a wide semicircle on the sand. The scene was fairly crawling with Cinnabar Police, and Looker slowed down as he approached. Immediately, one of the officers broke off from the group and blocked his path. "Sir, we're currently conducting an investigation. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Looker flashed his press pass. "I'm a reporter. Can you tell me exactly what's going on here?" The young cop's eyes narrowed slightly, and Looker recalled with chagrin that most policemen weren't exactly friendly towards the press. Clearly, he'd have to do a little pushing here.

"Sir, you need to leave _now,_ or I'll have to – " Looker never found out what the kid would've done; he'd already dodged past, jumped the tape, and sprinted off towards the crime scene. "Hey, you can't do that!" The policeman turned and shouted after him. Loki, who had been left behind, decided to shut him up with a quick punch to the kneecap; that tended to work well in these situations.

Looker had seen bodies before. But he'd never seen anything quite like this. Mr. Martin's torso was lying in the surf, dyeing the seafoam red around it. His lower body was nowhere to be seen; he had been sliced neatly in half. His hands were almost clawlike, raised as if trying to fend off a blow, and his eyes bulged in terror. Looker turned away, feeling ill.

"Craaa…" He followed Loki's glare and met the cold yellow gaze of the Charizard. Heather's Charizard; she was busy being interviewed by a pair of policemen. Her Pokemon, unattended for the moment, glared at Looker as it busily licked its claws clean of...was that _blood?_ Looker recalled her vehement words about the old fisherman the day before. _She'd_ certainly sounded ready for murder, hadn't she? Rage bubbled up in him, and he took a deep breath before stalking over to the small group.

"Just what is going on here?" He directed his question at the officers, ignoring the Gym Trainer, who was clearly surprised to see him.

"There's been a murder!" One of them exclaimed. Looker glared witheringly at him.

"_Really?_ I hadn't noticed."

The other cop spoke up. "It wasn't really a _murder,_" he said, casting a significant look at the younger cop. "A local fisherman just met with a bit of an accident, is all. Ms. Locke here discovered the body while out training."

"An accident?" Looker asked. "I don't see what kind of accident could do that to a man."

"Easy," the officer replied with a shrug. "He probably just fell in the water and was grabbed by a wild Gyarados. It happens, you know."

"That's what I thought, too," Heather chimed in, sounding far too perky for having just discovered a dead body. "It looks like something big got at him, don't you think?" Looker glanced back at the body. The severance had been accomplished very neatly - much too neatly for a hungry wild Pokemon, he thought. The Charizard was looking at the body too, with a hungry gleam in its eye. Looker's stomach turned, and he moved to block its view. He was willing to bet that a Slash from that beast could cut a man in two. He didn't know what would have made Heather kill Mr. Martin now, but he was sure she had, and he'd be _damned_ if she was going to get away with it.

"Well, I guess we're done here, Miss," the senior officer was saying. "I guess you can go." Heather smiled at the man and turned away, but not before Looker had stepped squarely into her path.

"_I_ still have a few questions, Miss Locke."

"I'm sorry, but this has all been terribly upsetting. Perhaps another time…" She tried to walk past, but Looker was suddenly in her way again.

"Is that _blood_ on your Charizard's claws, Miss?"

The Gym Trainer drew back and glared up at him. "Yes. From a wild Tentacruel." Looker quirked an eyebrow skeptically, and she narrowed her eyes. "What are you implying?"

"Sir!" The policeman barked, pushing himself between the two. "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but Miss Locke is an upstanding member of our community, and you have no right to level such accusations. Now get out of here." When Looker looked obstinate, he added, "I can arrest you for harassment."

That would mean that he'd have to get bailed out by his superiors, which would result in a blown cover and effectively ruin any chance he had of getting to the bottom of this thing. It was clearly going to be impossible to get anything done while these poor excuses for law enforcement officers were around. "Then I'll see you later, Miss Locke," he said as she walked off, earning himself another glare from her and a snarl from her Pokemon. He watched as she ascended the dunes, and only turned to leave once he had seen her enter the Gym. "Oh, calm down," he snapped at the cop, who was still eyeing him suspiciously. "I'm just going to go find some coffee. Have fun cleaning up your accident scene." Maybe some caffeine would ease the headache he was quickly developing.

---

As soon as he entered the town's only coffee shop, he was greeted by Dr. Sterling, who waved him over. Looker sat, sipping his coffee blissfully. "Ah. That is much better." His mood was improving already.

"You're a fellow addict?" The doctor asked with a laugh.

"Oh, it comes with the job." This was entirely true. "Lots of working late to meet deadlines, things like that." That, not so much.

"I know the feeling. This place has great coffee. Good cookies, too; the Pokemon love them." Eli gestured to Loki, who was sharing a giant cookie with Alpha. Looker did a quick double take – he didn't remember buying any cookies. Maybe he'd have to have another little talk with Loki about petty theft later. Not noticing Looker's distraction, Eli leaned in closer. "Have you heard about what happened last night? A local fisherman had an accident – got ripped in half by some wild Pokemon. _That_ would make a pretty interesting story for your paper."

"So that's what they're telling everyone," Looker muttered darkly. He hated having to deal with corrupt cops.

"Wait, what?" Eli shifted closer, and spoke quietly. "You don't think that's what happened?"

Looker shook his head. "I was down there this morning, and trust me, that is not the entire story."

"What?" Looker silently took another sip of coffee. "Okay, no. You can't just say things like that and then not explain yourself. Stop being cryptic!"

Looker shrugged. "Let's just say that something wasn't right about it." A thought occurred to him, and he quickly changed the subject. "That particular beach is very close to the Gym, isn't it? Does a lot of training go on there?"

The doctor sat back, blinking in confusion. "Um...not really. The locals all avoid that area; they say it's dangerous or something. Most of the training around here goes on in the Pokemon Mansion, though, because of the ghost-types there…no, no, no, wait. You can't change the subject that easily."

"It wasn't quite a change of subject." Looker studied the man across from him, and came to a decision. The situation on this island was worse than he'd expected. He was going to need some help if he was going to get anything done. "Can you do me a favor?"

Eli frowned, sensing the sudden seriousness in the air. "Um...sure."

"I'm not particularly popular around here lately, and nobody's going to talk to me. I need you to strike up some conversations with the locals, about Heather Locke specifically. She's lived her entire life on this island, there are people about who know her well." Looker told him bluntly. "Pretend to be an admirer of hers; that usually works. Find out about her habits, her past, anything you can dig up."

"Why? What you are looking for him for? Why all the secrecy?" The doctor looked confused, and maybe even a little frightened. "What's going on here?"

"What's going on is that I don't trust your police and I need some help," Looker whispered, reaching into the inner pocket of his trenchcoat and flashing his badge - the real one, not the press one. Eli's eyes widened. "I'll ask you again, now that you know what I want - will you help me?"

Eli considered for a moment, then nodded. Looker grinned.

"Great. Now, don't push anyone too hard for information. Once you've got everything you think you're going to get, go back to your Lab and stay there. I'll meet you there later tonight. You probably don't want to be seen looking for me at the hotel."

"Alright." The doctor nodded seriously. "I'll do my best, Officer."

Looker smiled. "Please. Just call me Looker."

---

Looker spent the rest of the afternoon lurking in a small alleyway across the street from the Gym. He'd always been rather good at lurking, even when his partner was hyped up on stolen sugar cookies and bouncing about like a maniac.

Finally, around dusk, Heather Locke emerged from the Gym. Luckily, her Charizard was nowhere in sight. Looker detached himself from the shadows and followed her at a safe distance. She didn't seem to realize that she was being followed, and walked briskly down the road. Soon, the sea-salt smell that pervaded the entire island grew stronger as they neared the docks. Heather glanced around the street quickly, without noticing Looker standing in a doorway a few houses down, and ducked into the courtyard of a nearby building.

Looker slunk after her, then paused at the gate, looking up once again at the dilapidated Pokemon Mansion. "Well. That's just wonderful." He'd meant to see if Heather did anything suspicious tonight, but following her into a broken-down old mansion wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting. She might just be going to hunt some Ghost-types, now that the sun had gone down...but then again, he'd seen his fair share of illicit dealings in abandoned buildings. He sighed and looked at Loki. "What do you think?" Despite clearly being nervous, the Croagunk returned his gaze steadily. Looker nodded. "Alright. Let's go see what's going on in that mansion."

* * *

I created Eli mainly so that Looker could have someone human to talk to, but I have to say I'm growing quite fond of him in his own right. I wasn't originally planning on having Looker ask him for any help at all or anything like that; it just sort of happened. What do you think?


	5. Chapter 5

Argh, I spent _forever_ editing this chapter. Finally I decided to just submit it and have done with the thing.

Oh, and the trunk thing I'm about to mention in the first paragraph? There's totally a whole story behind that.

* * *

The front door of the Mansion was open, and creaked eerily as Looker pushed it open. Apparently, places like this actually _did _exist in real life. He reached into his pocket and fished out his penlight - he'd started carrying one after the first time he woke up locked in a car trunk.

The light shone on old, broken furniture, reflected in a shattered mirror on the wall, and sparkled in the jeweled eyes of an odd-looking statue by the stairs. Heather was nowhere to be seen. Looker slipped into the house and scanned the floor. It was about as dusty as one would expect, and still covered with ash from the long-ago fire, but the comings and goings of various wild Pokemon left it impossible to pick out any tracks. Looker glanced questioningly at Loki. The poison frog looked around for a moment and shrugged. The detective sighed. There was a reason most officers stuck with canine Pokemon. Well, only one thing to do; he dimmed the light as low as it could go and set off down the hall.

It should have been dead silent. That certainly would have helped the mood. But the floorboards creaked loudly with every step, and Looker could just hear faint skittering sounds behind the walls. What a charming place this was.

He poked his head into the first room he came upon. There was nothing inside, save for a dusty table with a few yellowed sheets of paper spread out over it. Curiously, he picked one up, careful not to let the fragile old document crumble, and glanced over it. It was a page from an old journal, from the looks of it. Looker was surprised that it had even survived whatever fire had scorched the Mansion all those years ago.

Well, historical documents weren't really any of his business. He started off again down the hallway, and found that it eventually ended in a much larger room. Stepping through the doorway, he could have sworn he heard a scraping noise. He froze and darted the light around: nothing. Part of him wanted to dismiss it as a wild Raticate; the wiser part reached into his coat to assure himself that his gun was still there.

The room was empty, save for a large statue of a Persian standing near the back wall, forehead gem glittering sullenly. It was identical to the one he had seen in the foyer of the Mansion, except for one thing; it was significantly cleaner than anything else in the old house. Still on his guard, Looker went over to study it. It was bolted into the floor, and frankly, it was hideous. Looker couldn't imagine many reasons why someone would want to keep it around. The most obvious one, of course, was some sort of secret passageway. Plenty of old houses had them, after all. He ran his hands experimentally over the statue's head, tugging its whiskers, fiddling with its ears, pressing on its forehead jewel -

- and suddenly something heavy caught him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He landed heavily on his back, and barely had time to blink the black spots from his eyes before the Charizard was looming over him again, jaws agape. Out of nowhere, Loki sprang forward with a cackling war-cry, leaped up, and Sucker Punched the dragon in the throat. It roared in pain and surprise, and Looker seized the moment to roll out of the way and pull himself to his feet.

There was a secret room behind the statue, all right, and Heather was standing in the doorway, looking for all the world like a Trainer in the middle of an intense battle. "Leave it!" she shouted to the Charizard, who was desperately flapping its wings and trying to buck a biting, clawing Loki off its back. "Go for the man!" Still beating its wings in exasperation, it turned obediently and shot a fireball in Looker's direction. He threw himself to the ground and it impacted the wall behind him, shaking smoldering bits of plaster and wood onto his head and shoulders.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted at the Trainer, quickly brushing away the burning debris. "Call that monster off right now!"

"You can't make me," she said defiantly. "I _won't_ let you ruin Master Blaine's reputation! I'll kill you first!" Her eyes were blazing with madness and triumph. Negotiation clearly would not be an option here, Looker thought, dodging a stray Metal Claw. Time for more serious measures. Loki managed to land a Poison Jab on the Charizard's jaw, and Looker took advantage of the distraction to dodge past the beast, towards its Trainer. She screamed and threw a clumsy punch. He deflected it easily, drew his gun, and leveled it at her.

"I _said_, call it off."

The chaos in the room stopped instantly as the Charizard registered the threat to its Trainer. Heather, breathing heavily, snapped at it. "Go on! Kill him!" The dragon's eyes darted from its mistress to Looker, suddenly pathetic in their bewilderment.

"I could kill her before you could reach me," Looker told the Charizard, careful not to take his eyes away from Heather. "You know that. Just get back in your Pokeball, and I promise, she won't be hurt." The creature glanced between them again, then visibly slumped; it slunk forward, despite Heather's cries and curses, and nosed the Pokeball on its Trainer's belt, disappearing in a flash of red light.

"_Damn it!_" Heather hissed, turning to glare at Looker. "You won't get away with this! Pointing a gun at _me!_"

"I'm sure I won't. Loki, cuffs." The Croagunk limped over, retrieved a pair of handcuffs from the pocket of Looker's coat, and put them on the Trainer. Then, exhausted and bleeding, he leaped neatly onto Looker's shoulder and clung, immobile. "Good job, partner," Looker said quietly, holstering his weapon. He took Heather by the shoulder and propelled her, rather more firmly than necessary, towards the door. "Come on. You're under arrest."

---

The local police reacted about as Looker had expected when he showed up at the station, disheveled and shoving a handcuffed Gym Trainer before him. The young man at the front desk even stood up and put his hand to his gun. Looker rolled his eyes and fished out his badge - the proper one, this time. "International Police," he said, showing it to the cop. "This young woman just tried to kill me. You're going to be keeping her in your custody now."

"He's insane!" Heather shouted. "Let me go! Arrest him!"

To Looker's disgust, the man actually hesitated. He set his jaw and leaned in a bit closer. "Look. I have had a _very bad night._ All I want to do right now is drop this woman off and get my Pokemon to a Center. If you don't stop this and do your duty for once, I swear by Celebi..." The rest of the threat was not necessary; the man was suddenly mumbling apologies and hustling Heather into the back of the station. "I expect her to still be here when I get back!" Looker shouted after him.

Indeed, when Looker returned about twenty minutes later, Heather was still there. So, despite the late hour, was half the island. When Looker arrived, the small crowd outside quieted down considerably and parted, letting him through to the door. Evidently, news had traveled fast. "I hope you haven't let the press in here," he said to the desk sergeant by way of a greeting.

"No, sir." The man came out from behind the desk and handed Looker a thin manila folder. "This is just a brief report on what we found in the Mansion. The Chief thought you might like to have a look."

Looker flipped quickly through the papers, then did a quick double take. "These are pictures of that hidden room?"

"Yeah. I was there myself. It was pretty...well." The man trailed off uncomfortably. Looker could understand why. The hidden room, it appeared, had been made into a veritable shrine to Gym Leader Blaine. It was like something straight out of a movie; pictures and newspaper clippings all over the walls. Looker shook his head. That girl was even crazier than he'd given her credit for. The press was going to eat this up. He wished he could clear out before that went down, but of course he'd have to be on hand during her trial...

A commotion outside broke Looker out of his thoughts, and he looked up just in time to see Dr. Sterling push his way through the last of the crowd and stumble into the station. "I thought you'd be here," he said upon seeing Looker.

"What's going on?" Looker asked, alarmed; the doctor seemed flustered and slightly out of breath. The crowd outside the station was still a little too restless for his liking. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just that Blaine just landed at the docks. And from what I hear, he's coming here now." Dr. Sterling flashed Looker a grin. "Just thought you'd like some warning."

Looker smiled back and nodded his thanks. This was going to be an interesting meeting indeed.

* * *

We're finally working up to one of the main events I structured this around. It's weird, but it feels nice to finally get there.

Looker never sleeps. He also swears by things like Arceus and Celebi. I'm still getting used to writing that part.


	6. Chapter 6

It's about time, eh? I'm not even going to try to explain why I haven't been updating lately...real life takes priority, I'm afraid.

* * *

By the time the Gym Leader himself arrived, Looker had just finished chasing the last of the incompetent Cinnabar Police out of the station and was waiting by the front desk, sipping a rather sub-par cup of coffee stolen from the break room. "Ah, Leader Blaine," he greeted the older man. "I've been expecting you. Follow me, please," he continued, ignoring the man's curious look. Everyone seemed to know everyone in this place; no doubt he was wondering where this interloper had sprung from. Still, he followed Looker into the depths of the police station willingly enough: a small blessing. Looker had only caught a quick cat-nap that night, while waiting for Loki to get out of the PokeCenter, and he was still aching from their little Charizard incident. He wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with another angry Fire trainer right now.

Well, if all went well, he wouldn't have to. Looker had no intention of coming down particularly hard on the man. Heather was clearly about as sane as a Primeape on steroids - it was unlikely that Blaine had known much about what she'd been up to. Either way, he still had to be brought in for questioning, and clearly none of the idiots here could be trusted with such a job.

As they entered the interrogation room, Looker turned to study the Gym Leader as he took his seat. He'd noticed long ago that the harsh fluorescent lighting in these places made everyone look like a criminal. Blaine looked tired, drawn. He returned Looker's gaze over the rim of his dark glasses, a look of wary curiosity. "Well? How can I help you, Officer...?" Blaine trailed off, clearly fishing for a name. Looker quirked an eyebrow sardonically. Like he hadn't seen _that_ one before.

"What can you tell me about Heather Locke?" he asked instead, calmly taking his seat across from Blaine.

"Oh..." Blaine said, looking a little surprised. "Well...she's my head Gym Trainer. As such, she takes care of business here whenever I happen to be away. I left her in charge for the past week while I went on a short training expedition...is she alright?" he asked, brow furrowed in concern.

"Other than having been arrested for attempted murder of a law enforcement official, I imagine she's just fine," Looker replied smoothly, inwardly amused by the look of shock that flashed across the Gym Leader's features.

"What? No, there must be some sort of mistake. Where's Chief O'Brien?" Blaine asked, looking around the room as if the Cinnabar police chief might suddenly pop up and reassure him that all was well.

"There was no mistake. That Charizard of hers is a dangerous creature - quite difficult to subdue," Looker stated. Blaine continued to look at him with wide eyes for a second, before visibly composing himself. The older man leaned forward then, folding his hands in front of him on the table.

"And you wish me to give you information about her?" he asked, without looking for Looker's nod. "I'm afraid I have little to give. Heather rarely spoke of her past or her family - rarely spoke of anything, other than battling. She was passionate about the Gym. I had hoped..."

He stopped abruptly, glancing downwards. Looker watched him sympathetically. It was obvious what he'd meant to say: Blaine had hoped Heather would succeed him as Gym Leader. It was just as obvious that that would never happen now. After a moment, he asked, "Do you remember when she first applied for her position? Previous workplaces, anything like that?"

"No," Blaine replied, shaking his head. "Applicants for Gym Trainers need only prove themselves through a battle. After all, job experience is no indicator of battling prowess. It's common practice, at least among Kanto's Gyms," he added, slightly defensive.

Looker sighed. Well, wasn't _he_ just a wellspring of information? Time to try a different tack. "How about Maria Ryans? The challenger who disappeared recently?" he prompted as Blaine continued to look blank.

"Oh! Yes, that was a tragedy. Poor girl...she should never have gone into the eastern waters. They're dangerous; all the local fishermen say so," Blaine said. To his credit, he did look genuinely saddened for a second.

"Yes, I've heard that..." Looker replied absently. "I'm more interested in where Ms. Locke was on the night of the disappearance."

"You think Heather had something to do with that?" Blaine asked. "Well, I'm afraid you're mistaken. She was training in the Gym that night, with myself and half a dozen others. I can give you a list, if you like?" he offered.

Looker frowned at him in reply. "Yes, I would appreciate that." Heather, when questioned about her Leader's whereabouts on that night, had given the same story. The two certainly hadn't had any time to collaborate. "Are you certain she didn't leave at any point during the night?"

"It was a while ago. I really couldn't say for certain. Perhaps some of the others would remember?"

"Perhaps..." Looker stood, his chair scraping back against the tiled floor. "I think we're finished here. You had better stay on Cinnabar for a next few days, though," he added.

"Of course." Blaine still seemed rather disturbed by the whole encounter, but Looker really couldn't blame him. It wasn't every day you discovered that someone close to you was a kidnapper and murderer, after all. Well, _allegedly_, anyway - Looker really hoped to be out of here and back to Sinnoh before the press jumped into the fray. As many questions as he and others had asked, nobody had been able to even get Heather to confess to Maria's kidnapping, much less tell them where the body was.

She had, however, quite readily explained what she'd planned on having her Charizard do to Looker and his partner. That had been.._interesting,_ to say the least.

Looker saw Blaine to the door of the station, and watched him as he walked away. Heading back to his Gym, from the look of it. Typical. He didn't get very far, however, before being accosted by several men with cameras. Also typical. The detective darted quickly out and around the corner of the station. There were too many cameramen about to be easily put off, and he really hated when people took his picture. In his line of work, you never knew where that could come back to bite you. Besides, right now he really just needed to get back to his hotel room and get some sleep.

Glancing around the street, Looker was satisfied that he'd escaped notice for now. Stopping for a moment, he quickly fished a Pokeball from his pocket and pressed the release button. "All right, you. Come out here and suffer with the rest of us." He'd really meant to wait until he got back to the hotel to let Loki out - the nurse back at the Center had said that he should give the Croagunk ample time to rest - but to tell the truth, it felt pretty damned weird walking about with his partner trapped in some sort of...pocket dimension..._thing._ He only even carried the thing around in case of emergencies.

Loki let out a pleased croak upon being released, and immediately began scanning the street, probably looking for handy grocers to rip off. The frog looked perfectly rested and none the worse for the wear. Looker cast him a tired glare. "No distractions, please. Not all of us get to be immediately cured of all our earthly woes. Honestly, if they put half the effort into medical research that they put into Arceus-damned Pokemon battling..." The Croagunk rolled his eyes at his human's irritated rant - nothing he hadn't heard before - but stayed close to Looker's side as they continued back to the hotel.

They made it perhaps two blocks. Upon rounding a corner, an anxious-looking young man caught sight of them and hurried up. "Oh! Um, hello. You're the guy from the IP, right?"

Looker made an effort to swallow his growing hatred of humanity as a whole. "I am. I also do not speak to the press. Good day," he said, in a tone clearly indicating that he did not wish the man a good day at all, and quickly shoved past.

The fellow didn't take the hint, however, following alongside. "Oh, I'm not the press! I don't want to bother you or anything...um, sir. I'm just an assistant down at the lab, and I was kind of wondering if you had seen Dr. Sterling. I know he'd been helping you out a little bit, so I thought maybe..."

Looker held up a hand to cease the babbling, and tried to ignore the growing dread in the pit of his stomach. "Are you telling me that the doctor is missing?"

The lab assistant blanched, nervously readjusting his glasses. "Well...he didn't show up at work this morning. We thought he was probably with you, but..."

Alright. This wasn't so bad. The man had probably just wandered off somewhere. Probably. "Did you check his home?"

"Oh, yeah, we went there first. And, um, we went down to the coffee shop, too."

Shit_._ "Anyplace else?"

"Well...we haven't gone to any of the beaches yet. Sometimes he takes the Kabuto clone out there for training...but he always checks in at the labs first."

_Shit._ It was those Arceus-damned beaches again. Everything seemed to happen there, and it seemed that the help Dr. Sterling had given him was now common knowledge. Looker suddenly felt much less optimistic about his morning. He made an effort to hide it, though; no need to freak the kid out. "Fine. You start on the west shore, and I'll head east. He's probably just gotten caught up in training, don't worry," he added, in an attempt to be reassuring. It seemed to work; the lab assistant nodded and went on his way, looking slightly less stressed. Looker and Loki immediately headed east, towards the beach by the Gym.

_Why_ did he always do this? It went counter to plenty of IP standards. But whenever Looker went out on assignment, he always seemed to pick up some civilian helpers. He didn't do it on purpose. He didn't go _looking_ for anyone. It just happened. And normally it went pretty well. But the specter of danger was always there. _He_ was a trained agent. He had a weapon; he knew how to defend himself. What had Dr. Sterling had? A long-extinct crab? He should never have even been involved in this!

Maybe, Looker mused, it was just that he really didn't like to work alone. Loki was a great partner, but it wasn't really the same thing as _human_ companionship. But that was no excuse. A rookie might get a little too lonely on the job, but _he_ should know better.

The easternmost shore of Cinnabar. Everything seemed to happen here. This was the last place Maria had been seen alive. This was where Mr. Martin's mutilated body had been found. And right over there, above the sand dunes, was nestled Cinnabar Gym. Coincidence? Looker had stopped thinking so a long time ago. But Heather was in custody now. So if they didn't find Dr. Sterling soon...

Looker loped down towards the shoreline, Loki following closely behind. If the doctor really had come out here to train, he would have had to go down there to find any decent wild Pokemon. That was the best place to start looking for traces. It was low tide now, though, and Looker really had no idea how long it had been so. Maybe this was useless and he should be looking farther up the beach. Still, he began to pace along the water's edge, keeping an eye out for anything of value and trying not to remember how Mr. Martin's blood had mingled with the waves.

On the edges of his vision, something in the water caught the light in a manner that made him pause. He doubled back to have another look, but the angle wasn't quite right, and the object remained hidden in the murky water. Looker waded forward, heedless of the salt water soaking his pants. Whatever that was, it struck him as promising. He moved forward slowly, feeling about the sandy bottom with his feet. Behind him, Loki was edging slowly into the deeper water; he wasn't as tall as a human, and couldn't go out nearly as far. He let out a plaintive croak, and Looker jumped and glanced back, startled. He hadn't quite realized how far out into the water he'd gotten. He wasn't even sure what he was looking for. "Sorry...I must be more tired than I thought..." he muttered, taking a step back towards shore. One step, before the ground beneath him suddenly gave way, plunging him beneath the water.

He kicked reflexively and broke above the surface, gasping and spitting out salt water. Loki was swimming towards him now, and Looker was close enough to see that the Croagunk was shuddering all over. He only had a second to feel dread before the currents around him suddenly shifted and the water grew icy cold.

It only took a second before he was sucked under a second time, plunging down into the inky blackness. And it was only a few seconds after that before the surface of the water was once again still and the shoreline was quiet, leaving no indication that anyone had ever been there at all.

* * *

Don't you just love it when that happens? ;D Everything interesting happens on Cinnabar's eastern shore. Disappearances, murders, strange riptides that start up suddenly and don't particularly follow the natural laws of such things...

Anyhow, regardless of previous delays, the next chapter should be up in a more reasonable amount of time. After all, it's summer and I have little to no social life!


End file.
